The Challenges of Attracting Graduate Students to Plant Breeding

Abstract

The challenges of attracting graduate students to plant breeding are to induce more high school students to major in undergraduate plant science programs and to attract these undergraduates to graduate programs in plant breeding. The first challenge will require the formation of an assertive, symbiotic relationship between high school counselors, agricultural recruitment programs, and broad-based science education programs to overcome some of the student misperceptions of science careers. The second challenge will require the successful communication of the opportunities for plant breeding careers to undergraduate plant science majors. The effective involvement of undergraduate teachers with plant breeders, the use of internships and work programs, the formation of interdisciplinary teams, and the use of speakers' bureaus to facilitate this broader communication are suggested to enhance student recruitment efforts.